“Heritage and Education: Learning from our Heritage” is the theme for Heritage week 2020.
This year so far has been surreal and very disruptive to say the least, COVID has certainly left its mark. Normally we at Moycullen Heritage are very busy during heritage week walking our heritage trails, hosting talks, or organising some sort of “Hedge School”- all with the point of getting the “Moycullen heritage” message out to as many people as possible, and having great fun doing it.
Sadly we have decided to not hold any group events this year due to concerns regarding social distancing and to follow government COVID guidelines.
Our focus has turned online instead and we are delighted to contribute to Heritage Week through highlighting a unique genealogical legacy, left to our parish by Fr. Francis Xavier Blake (P.P. Moycullen 1792-1825) - the “Blake Census" - Moycullen Parish 1793-1813.
After a largely unsuccessful attempt in undertaking a national census in 1813, the first full official census of Ireland was taken in 1821, so therefore, in 1793 Fr. Blake was a man well before his time in recording the households in our parish. In many cases movement of the people and events in their lives were also noted.
This hugely valuable link to learning about our ancestral roots became an even more relevant and useful tool when most of the national census pre 1901 were lost or destroyed.
Moycullen Heritage have had the "Blake Census" transcribed and sole access to the data is via this website.
